Fresh from sailing within 1,050 kilometres of the North Pole, Royal Navy icebreaker HMS Protector cemented UK ties with Iceland with a short visit to her capital.
The Devonport-based icebreaker/survey/scientific research ship was crunching through the Arctic ice field nearly 2,000 kilometres north of Reykjavik just a week ago.
Seven days on and she became the first Royal Navy vessel to pay an official visit to Iceland since the lockdown – and also the first to visit since the hosts joined the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force.
To highlight the important and enduring relations between the two like-minded countries on issues such as environmental science in the Arctic - especially hydrographic surveying which Protector conducted on her foray north – and the security of the frozen region, the ship invited dignitaries, led by the country’s Foreign Minister Gudlaugur Thór Thórdarson and the UK’s Ambassador to Iceland, Michael Nevin, aboard for a look around the unique vessel.
“The ship’s company have been exceptionally well hosted by the people of Iceland and have had some wonderful experiences exploring this fascinating country; we hope to return in the future,” said Commanding Officer Captain Michael Wood, who also presented Mr Nevin with a souvenir ship’s crest.
Protector is now due to leave Iceland for the (slightly) warmer waters of Teesside (13.5C compared with just 9C off Reykjavik) and maintenance/final preparations for her voyage south at the end of the summer, and her first spell among the Antarctic ice since early 2019.
